A Time to Change the Future
by CrazyHayniac
Summary: During their Senior year of high school, Cyd and Shelby decide to jump 20 years into the future to see where they are in life and what their lives are like. However, things aren't anywhere near what they expected to find.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Before I begin the story, I need to give a warning because this story includes more mature content than was in the show and it has a plotline that some people might not want to read. It refers to drunk driving and some of the dangers that go with driving drunk, so if that's something that you aren't comfortable reading, this might not be the story for you.

Writing this was somewhat emotional for me and I knew what was going to happen throughout. This first chapter doesn't get into the concept but the second will. If the stuff that was previously mentioned would give you any sort of panic attack or anything of the like, I would advise not reading this.

They had almost made it. Cyd and Shelby could see the end of their careers in high school; all they had to do was make it through a couple more weeks of school before they would be at graduating and moving on to college after summer.

Though Cyd wasn't originally meant to still be living with Shelby and her family during their senior year, her parents' archeological dig had been extended for another year. The girls didn't really mind getting to be roommates for another year because that year would have just been a break since they were going to be roommates in college with the addition of Daisy as their third roommate.

"Hey, Shelbs," Cyd drew the attention of her best friend as they sat in their room working on some final assignments for high school.

"Yeah?"

"You know how they asked us where we want to be in 10 years for the thing in the yearbook?"

"How could I forget? I set the bar for us pretty high with wanting to have Cyd and Shelby Incorporated going and running already by then."

"Well, I was thinking, what if we went 20 years into the future to see what our lives really are like then?"

"You know, that sounds like fun. We can see if we ever did get Cyd and Shelby Incorporated going, or if not work harder to get there."

"Yeah," Cyd agree.

"And I needed a break from doing my homework anyway," Shelby said, setting her things down and going to meet Cyd in the middle of their room where the organization of her stuff met the chaos of Cyd's.

The girls held their hands up and high fived. When they arrived 20 years in the future, they were on a park bench away from crowds and most other people sitting beside each other. Only a few people passed by about 50 feet away.

"Hey, we're together," Shelby commented as she looked around. It was a beautiful sunny day and the water glistened off the pond that was nearby.

"Looks like summer will come early this year. It'll make it torture for kids who are still in school," Cyd added.

"I wonder if that includes our kids."

"I wonder if they're friends like you've been hoping they would be so we can be co-grandmas."

"I wonder what we look like," Shelby said.

"Let's take a time selfie!" Cyd exclaimed, pulling her phone out of her pocket. Once she had taken the picture, Cyd held her phone between them so they could better see what they looked like.

"Wh—why do I look exactly the same?" Shelby asked.

"I—I don't know. That doesn't make any sense," Cyd said. "We're 20 years into the future. I don't look the same. How come you do?" Cyd asked as her phone rang. The caller ID read 'hubby'. "What do I do?"

"Answer it and put it on speaker?" Shelby suggested.

"Right," Cyd replied. "Hey," she greeted the caller, who apparently was her husband, after putting the phone on speaker.

 _"_ _Hey, Cyd. I just wanted to call and see how you were doing today since you left home."_

"What do you mean?"

 _"_ _Well, it's the 15 year anniversary. I know you went to the park to think things over."_

"Wait, I know that voice," Shelby said. "Naldo?" she asked.

 _"_ _Cyd, who's with you?"_

"Shelby is."

 _"_ _Cyd, wait right where you are. I know where you'll be and I'll be there in 10 minutes. We need to talk."_

"Naldo, what's going on?"

 _"_ _This isn't something I can explain to you over the phone. See you soon."_

Before Cyd could say anything more, Naldo hung the phone up. "What do you think he's talking about?"

"I have no idea," Shelby replied.

The girls sat in silence for a couple seconds because they weren't sure what to say now with Naldo's exclamation. "I wonder what that was about," Cyd spoke aloud.

"Yeah, me too," Shelby said. "Do you want to look at pictures on your phone? Maybe see pictures of your and Naldo's wedding while we wait," she suggested.

"Yeah, I guess," Cyd said. She went to her Facebook page and the two began to look through the recent family pictures of her, Naldo, and their two kids. "How come there's no pictures of the two of us anywhere? I can't believe we wouldn't have taken any pictures together recently."

"Yeah, we're together now," Shelby added. "Aw, look at your wedding pics. Cyd, you look amazing. And you and Naldo are adorable."

"But you're not in any of them," Cyd said as she scrolled through them. "We promised each other we'd be each other's maids of honor in our weddings when we were in like 2nd grade. I can't believe that I would have backed out on that promise."

"Maybe Naldo can explain what happened when he gets here. Maybe we had some sort of falling out in college so we stopped talking or something like that," Shelby suggested.

"Yeah," Cyd trailed off. "Maybe we met up here to try and make things up or work out whatever it was that made us have the falling out."

"And that means Naldo would know what happened," Shelby repeated. "He said he'd be here in 10 minutes so he should be here soon." The girls feel silent since they had no idea what to say since the realization that they must have had some falling out or that they were going to in the future from their present.

A few minutes later, the girls saw Naldo walking over towards them. They might not have completely recognized him if it hadn't been for the pictures they saw on Cyd's phone, but the fact that Naldo still always wore a hat would have given it away had they not seen the recent pictures.

"Hi, guys," Naldo greeted. "I—" he cut himself off. He didn't seem to know what to say.

"Naldo, what did you need to talk to us about that you couldn't talk about over the phone?" Cyd asked.

"When did you guys jump here from?" Naldo questioned as they stood to meet him.

"How do you know we jumped here?"

"Th—the way you answered the phone," Naldo replied. "So, when did you jump here from?"

"Senior year."

"High school or college?"

"High school."

"We really need to talk," Naldo said, his expression grave.

 **A/N:** This story is just going to be a short 4 chapter story. It could have been a longer one-shot but I split it up by the main action that is taking place in the story.

Part of my reasoning for cutting this off here is because I'm curious to know what you think might be going on. The other is that it would be long if I didn't cut it off here.

Anyway, I'd love to know what you thought of this chapter and I hope you enjoyed it and enjoy the rest of the story. Thanks for reading,

-CrazyHayniac


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 _[Previously: "We really need to talk," Naldo said, his expression grave.]_

"What do you mean we have to talk?" Cyd asked. "Naldo, what happened between me and Shelbs?"

"Nothing," Naldo replied slowly. "Nothing happened between the two of you. It's—it's what happened to Shelby."

"We have to talk about what happened to me?"

"What happened to Shelby?" Cyd asked. Naldo stood silently, refusing to answer or say anything in reply. "Naldo," Cyd spoke with more authority in her voice. "What happened to Shelby?" she repeated.

"Um, we better sit down," Naldo said, motioning towards the bench the girls had vacated a couple minutes prior.

Cyd and Shelby turned to each other with confused expressions. What could be so serious that they needed to sit down for Naldo to tell them about it? Why couldn't he just tell them while they stood there to talk? However, slowly and reluctantly, Cyd and Shelby walked back to the bench and Naldo sat down next to Cyd while she sat between him and Shelby. "So, what it is you needed to tell us, Naldo?" Cyd asked, her voice was gentler than it had been before.

"I really hate to have to tell you this, but 15 years ago today, there was a car accident with—with—" Naldo stuttered.

"Naldo?" Cyd asked.

He met her eyes with sadness filling his own as he bit his lip. "I hate having to relive and recall this all. 15 years ago, Shelby, you were driving home from visiting your parents when, when a drunk driver, he—he hit your car head on—" Naldo's voice caught in his throat and tears gathered in his eyes more than they already had. "They told us you were killed instantly," he finished with tears rolling down his checks. "Seeing you now, it's almost like seeing a ghost."

"What?" both Cyd and Shelby exclaimed at the same time.

"I'm sorry," Naldo managed.

"I—" Shelby began, but she wasn't able to form any other words.

"No, no. That can't— You're—you're lying," Cyd spoke, tears now forming in her eyes at the thought of losing her best friend like that.

Naldo shook his head and pulled his phone out of his pocket. "I swear Cyd, I'm not lying." Naldo opened something on his phone and a minute later, he handed it to Cyd for her and Shelby to see. Cyd held the phone between the two of them as they read.

"This is," Cyd started but the rest of her sentence got caught in her throat.

"My obituary," Shelby spoke slowly. She scoffed in a laugh, "How many people can say they had a chance to read their own obituary," she finished slowly and in a somewhat sarcastic manner.

"I'm sorry, Cyd, Shelby."

"I guess that's why you look the same as you did in our present," Cyd said, finding her voice.

"We wanted to go back to that night and change things. Have you leave and go back to the apartment you, Cyd, and Daisy all had a little earlier or later, but we couldn't jump without you," Naldo explained.

"So, there was no way to change it," Shelby said. "Because in that timeline, we never jumped to the future to know what was going to happen."

Naldo nodded. "As much as we wanted to, there wasn't anything we could do to get you back. Which means we haven't done any time travel since a day or two before the accident. Barry and I still haven't been able to recreate time travel or figure out what I put in that batch of my gel. 15 years and absolutely no luck," he finished under his breath.

"But now we know," Cyd's eyes suddenly lit up. "Just like you said, Shelbs. Now when we jump back, we'll know about the accident, about what's supposed to happen. We'll jump to before the accident happened so Shelby can stay at her parent's house a little longer than she did in original time. You said it's exactly 15 years since the accident happened, so we just write that date down and make sure we stop it all from happening."

"But what if someone else is there and he crashes head on into someone else and kills them instead?" Shelby said.

"You're right," Cyd gave in. "We can't do that to someone else. We can't let someone else's family go through that."

"No, wait," Naldo said. "Shelby, Cyd, you're on to something. We may not have been able to jump back before, but now that you know what happens, you can stop it. And not just stop it from happening to Shelby, stop it from happening to anyone."

"How?" Cyd and Shelby asked at the same time.

"We need to head back to our place, Cyd. There's some things I'll need to show you. And that way we can talk without worrying about being overheard," he added, glancing over his shoulder.

"Right," the two agreed.

"But before we leave," Naldo began as they stood. He moved over to give Shelby a hug. "I know this probably seems somewhat weird because you likely just saw me during our senior year, but it's been 15 years and, well, it's good to see you," Naldo said once the hug ended.

"Well, even though this isn't a great way to see future you, it's nice to see you too," Shelby laughed.

Naldo smiled. "I parked over here," he said, leading the way.

While the trio heading towards the parking lot was three really good friends in reality, people they passed and those who saw them as they walked through the park wouldn't know that. To many of them, it would look more like a couple was at the park with their teenaged daughter since Cyd and Naldo were now in their late 30s but Shelby still looked 18. When the accident had happened, it had been all over the news, so much so that Shelby's family and closest friends heard enough about it and it only extended the pain of losing her. Back then, everyone had known Shelby's name and face; however, 15 years later, there had been other stories that had been moved to the forefront of people's minds. Seeing Shelby didn't spark a memory of anything for anyone who saw her with Cyd and Naldo.

After a short drive, Naldo was pulling into the driveway of a house. He parked the car and lead the way over to the door. "We're back," Naldo called into the house when he, Cyd, and Shelby entered.

"Wait," Cyd said as a sudden thought struck her. "Would I have driven to the park earlier?"

"If this timeline will be erased, it doesn't matter," Naldo waved her off.

"Mama, Daddy, you're home!" a dark haired little boy exclaimed as he ran to meet Cyd and Naldo.

"Mason," a male voice said, coming to the foyer. "Shelby, it—it's really you."

"Barry?"

"Ye—yeah."

Naldo reached down to pick up the little boy who had come to meet them. Cyd knew he was her son from the family pictures she and Shelby had looked at while they waited for Naldo to get to the park. "Where's our daughter?"

"Daisy's with her in the other room with our daughter, Grace," Barry explained. "I can't believe it's really you, Shelby. We thought we'd never," Barry trailed off. "Anyway, Daisy, Grace, and, and little Shelby are in the other room."

"Little Shelby?" Shelby asked. "Is your daughter's name Shelby?"

"Yes," Naldo answered. "It was sort of something we did in your honor because you were gone," he explained.

"Why don't Daisy and I take the kids up to their rooms while you guys talk," Barry offered.

Naldo nodded. Barry went to get Daisy and their daughter as well as Naldo and Cyd's kids so they could head up to their rooms. Once they had gone upstairs, Naldo, Cyd, and Shelby headed to the living room and sat down to talk about everything they needed to.

"I guess the first thing to know would be the date the accident happened," Shelby began.

"April 26, 2024. We had all been out of college for about a year. You two had an apartment with Daisy. You had gone to see your parents, Shelby. I don't remember what for. But the story for the guy, Ralph Carter, was that he was at a bar with a friend who had taken his keys because he was beyond over the legal limit to drive. Somehow, he got his car started and drove away before anyone knew what had happened," Naldo was able to easily explain. "Do—do you want to know anything more about what happens from there?"

"No," Cyd and Shelby answered together.

"Where did he come from, like what bar?" Shelby asked.

"I don't remember that. We have the article about it that we kept. It has everything about that night in it. Approximate time the accident happened and where he was coming from. Do you want any help figuring out how to change it?" Naldo asked as he stood from the couch.

"No," Cyd answered. "We should be fine."

"And I don't think we'll want to tell anyone about this when we get to the present, at least not until it gets closer to the actual date," Shelby added.

"Okay," Naldo said. He left and returned a minute later with a yellowed paper. "Here it is. Be safe guys while you work everything out."

"We will," Cyd answered. Another minute later, Cyd and Shelby high fived to jump back to their present with the article in hand. They were going to stop the accident from ever happening no matter what, and they were going to make sure no one else became the victim as well.

A/N: In this chapter I take a little bit of a head canon I have where the group discovered that Daisy was supposed to be in the 21st century and that they were supposed to take her back – kind of like how Cyd and Shelby had to get Shelby's Grandma Rita and Grandpa Paul together. So with Daisy, they basically get her to the 21st century and the kingdom goes to someone else like a relative of Daisy's instead.

I don't specifically say any of the ages the kids are, but if anyone would want to know, Cyd and Naldo's kids Little Shelby and Mason were 6 and 3, and Barry and Daisy's daughter Grace was 4.

Thanks for the reviews, favorites, and follows on the first chapter. I hope everyone enjoyed this one as well. Thanks for reading,

-CrazyHayniac


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

 _[Previously] "We will," Cyd answered. Another minute later, Cyd and Shelby high fived to jump back to their present with the article in hand. They were going to stop the accident from ever happening no matter what, and they were going to make sure no one else became the victim as well._

"I can't believe that's supposed to happen in exactly 5 years from today," Shelby said when she and Cyd reappeared in their room in 2019.

"And we just happened to decide to jump on the day 5 years before the accident was supposed to happen," Cyd added.

"Yeah," Shelby agreed. "But we need to figure out something to do with this newspaper article and keep it safe where no one will be able to find it and figure out what it is or when it's from."

"What about like a small safe maybe a fireproof one or something," Cyd suggested. "That way, even if something really bad happened, we wouldn't lose it."

"Yeah, that would be perfect," Shelby agreed. "But I need to finish something for my homework a minute before we can head out. Especially in case my mom asks us about it."

"True," Cyd spoke. "I'll get all my stuff together and go let your mom know we need to go out and get something once you finish up what you're working on." Cyd headed downstairs where Shelby's mom was to let her know the girls would be heading out soon. Norm had to work late so Astrid was the only one in the living room when Cyd went downstairs. She just reminded Cyd that she and Shelby needed to be home before 11 and asked them to drive safe. Cyd reported what Astrid had said to Shelby, and a couple minutes later she was ready to leave.

"Before we go, we need to make sure the article will be safe while we're gone. I don't think we should leave it here because I don't want my family to come up and end up fining it."

"What if you kept it with you in your bag?" Cyd suggested.

"Good idea," Shelby agreed. She carefully folded the article and made sure she didn't fold it over any of the words they needed for future reference. Once that was taken care of, the girls headed out to the store. When they got there, they explained that they were going to college next year and since they were going to be roommates, they wanted something to keep important documents in where they would be safe. The story was true enough, and the woman was able to direct them to a few fire-safes. They left soon after and returned home well before curfew.

When they got back, they copied the things they would need to know from the article down on another piece of paper with dark ink in case the words on the newspaper faded. They put the article and the copies they had made of the date and the address of the bar were in the safe and brought it with them when they moved to college later that fall.

After finding that Daisy was always supposed to be in the 21st century and bringing her back, she was adopted by Naldo's parents since she had lived with them while she was in the 21st century the first time around. She had finished and graduated high school with Cyd, Shelby, Barry, and Naldo and decided she wanted to go to college as well. The group also all ended up wanting to go to the same university. Barry and Naldo decided to be roommates as did the girls since there were housing options for single, double, triple, and quadruple dorms.

Throughout college, Cyd and Shelby kept the secret about the accident that was meant to happen about a year after they all graduated. Their friends became curious about what was in the fire-safe Cyd and Shelby always had with them in the dorm, but the two were unwilling to share what it was for or what they had in it, so they stopped asking after a couple months.

Even as they all graduated and the girls all got an apartment together, even though they were all engaged by that time, Cyd and Shelby continued to keep quiet about it. Cyd and Daisy's engagements to Naldo and Barry respectively had been fairly obvious from when Cyd and Shelby had jumped to the future, Shelby's engagement was less obvious. James and Shelby had met during their sophomore year of college. He was someone Shelby and everyone else had been able to trust with the time travel secret. He fit into their already existing group well and got along with Barry and Naldo since he was also a science guy.

It wasn't until the last weekend in March of 2024 that Cyd and Shelby dared share about the accident in original time with their friends. On Friday the 29th in March that year, Barry, Naldo, and James were over at the girls' apartment for the group to hang out and play board games or some of the video games they had.

"Guys, can we talk about what we have in the fire-safe?" Shelby asked after the group had eaten their dinner of a couple pizzas they had ordered from a place down the street.

"Wait, you're finally going to tell us what's in it?" Daisy asked.

"Yeah," Cyd spoke. "It's time."

Shelby nodded and left to go to her room. When she returned, she had the fire-safe and the key to it. As everyone moved to sit down in the living room, Shelby set the fire-safe down on the coffee table in the middle of the room. "You're going to want to read the article we have," Shelby explained after she took the article out and handed it first to Daisy.

"This is a paper dated four weeks from now," Daisy said.

"Keen observation," James joked, looking over Daisy's shoulder.

"You should, um, just read it," Cyd encouraged. "We can tell you more about it once you've all read it."

The group fell silent. They shifted the way they were sitting so they were all able to read the article at the same time. "When is this really from?" Barry asked once he and the others had finished reading.

"A different timeline," Shelby explained. "Or at least, that's the hope."

"So you mean to tell us that in a different timeline, you were killed in an accident by a drunk driver?" James asked.

"Yeah," Shelby answered.

"When we were still in high school, we jumped 20 years into the future because we were curious about where we'd be in life," Cyd began. "When we got there, Shelby looked exactly the same as she did in the present. Future Naldo called me because it was the anniversary of the accident to make sure I was okay while we were there together. When he heard Shelby on the phone, he knew something was wrong. He gave us the article and explained everything to us."

"What are we going to do to make sure it doesn't happen this time around?" Naldo asked.

"Yeah. Are you just not going to be out that night?" James asked.

"Actually," Shelby began.

"We want to make sure no one else ends up being the victim because of that Ralph guy," Cyd explained. "So, we're going to go to the bar he leaves from and make sure he can't start his car and drive like he did."

"How can we help?" Daisy asked.

"Um, we hadn't actually thought of that," Shelby said.

"We just figured the two of us would go and disconnect some wires or take his keys for the night if we needed to."

"Well, now that we know about it," Barry started. "We can help."

"Right now, we might just stick to the plan we have right now, but if we need any help with it, we can jump back and have you help us with it," Shelby said.

"All right," the group agreed. After talking about all the details of the accident and going over the other stuff they needed to for the time being. The night carried on as the usual game nights did. Some of the games were the couples against each other while other times it was guys versus girls or everyone on their own.

They didn't talk a whole lot about the accident that was meant to happen a couple weeks from then because those who had just found out about it knew how much holding it in the last 5 years had troubled Cyd and Shelby. In mid-April, Shelby's parents asked her over for dinner the 26th but she declined claiming that she, Cyd, and Daisy were doing something that night and that the 27th would work better. There was no reason for Shelby's parents to expect that what Shelby told them was untrue and were more than willing to let her join them one night later than they had suggested.

Everything was set. Cyd and Shelby knew the address of the bar where Ralph Carter was meant to be before he decided to drive after having too much to drink at the bar. The girls would go there, as it wasn't a shady or dangerous bar, and would wait to stop him from driving. On top of that, if the girls ran into any problems and needed more help from the others they would be able to get it because Barry, Daisy, Naldo, and James had made it obvious they were willing to help if the need arose and had cleared their schedules for that night.

Now all the group needed to do was wait until the 26th when the planning Cyd and Shelby had done over the last 5 years would be put into action.

 **A/N:** In the last chapter I didn't specifically address the review that asked a question because the question that was asked was answered in the chapter. The same is true for the question posed by 456 from the last chapter. The character Shelby ends up with, James, is an OC though I haven't really dug into his actual character at all here.

Anyway, thanks for reading, reviewing, following, and favoriting. I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and I'd love to know what you thought of it. Thanks for reading,

-CrazyHayniac


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Note on this chapter: I know in the series proper the characters were all in high school, but here they are past college and are about 23 meaning that drinking is now legal unlike what it would have been during the series proper.

 _[Previously] Now all the group needed to do was wait until the 26th when the planning Cyd and Shelby had done over the last 5 years would be put into action._

"Tonight's the night," Cyd spoke as she, Shelby, and Daisy got up on Friday morning to get ready for work.

"Yeah," Shelby said. "It was an ordinary day that first time when the accident happened and we had no idea it was going to happen."

"Because we didn't jump that far ahead in original time," Cyd said.

"But you know now," Daisy said. "Any ideas for dinner later tonight?"

"Order a pizza!" Cyd exclaimed.

"Works for me," Shelby shrugged. "Also, I won't be drinking anything alcoholic tonight," she informed Cyd.

"So you'll be the designated driver tonight?" Cyd asked. She looked to Shelby and received a look that clearly said 'really'. "I was kidding. I'm not planning on drinking either. I don't want to mess up being able to do anything if I drank something that was alcoholic."

Daisy and Shelby shook their heads at Cyd's remark and finished getting their breakfasts. The girls were soon on their way to work for the day.

That day at the small business where Cyd and Shelby worked to learn more about business and where they wanted to go in their future careers seemed to drag on. Though they were also dreading what they had to do that night and thoughts of what happened before in a different timeline filled their minds, they wanted the work day to be over. When it was over, they hurried home and waited for Daisy, who had a slightly longer drive to their apartment, to get home as well.

Soon after Daisy got home, the girls ordered the pizza they had planned to have for dinner that night. A half hour later, their pizza was delivered and they were able to have their dinner. Before long, Cyd and Shelby were getting ready to head to the bar and stop Ralph from doing something that would change lives forever. Though in original time, the accident had also resulted in his death, just not until a couple days later in the hospital, this time around Cyd and Shelby hoped to also save him.

"Stay safe and text me so I know how it's going," Daisy said right before Cyd and Shelby left.

"We will," Shelby assured her. Both she and Cyd gave Daisy goodbye hugs before they headed down to Shelby's car and towards the bar.

CHCHCH

"Here we are," Shelby said as they pulled up in front of the bar. It was in an area downtown so it was unlikely that they would get a parking spot directly in front of or across from the bar, so they went to a nearby parking garage. After a short walk from the parking garage, they made their way back to the bar.

"Shelbs, there he is," Cyd said almost as soon as they entered the bar. Ralph was sitting at the counter talking to a couple other guys that were there with him.

Shelby shook her head. "I can't believe he was and is so stupid to drive after getting drunk," she said. "We should probably sit close enough to hear what he and the other guys it seems like he's with are saying."

"But not so close that it seems like we're stalking them, even if we kind of are," Cyd added in a quieter voice.

Shelby nodded her agreement. After a couple moments of looking around the bar they spotted a table that was close enough to hear Ralph and the guys he was with. After they sat down, the sent a text to Daisy to let her know they had made it to the bar and began looking over the menu. They both ordered waters and some fries to share while they waited until the time came where they would need to do something. They sat for a while watching what different sport games were on the TVs in the bar.

CHCHCH

"WOOHOO! I could do anything! Nothing can stop me!"

Cyd and Shelby turned at the exclamation of someone who was sitting at the counter of the bar. When they spotted the man, they noticed that it was Ralph."

"No, you can't. You've just had like 7 beers and think you're on top of the world like you always do when you have too much to drink," one of the guys with him said.

"No, no, no, no, Shawn. I really _can_ do anything."

Cyd and Shelby could see the guy with Ralph, Shawn, roll his eyes. "Just water for him now," he said to the bartender. The bartender nodded and handed a water over to Ralph.

"I can't drink that."

"Pretend it's liquor," Shawn said. "Or, you know, this is liquor actually. It will help make you even more invincible."

"For real, bro?"

"Yeah, totally." Ralph was clearly too drunk to notice his friend's lie and downed the water in a few seconds flat. It left Cyd, Shelby, and Ralph's friend Shawn, rolling their eyes.

There was some more casual conversation at the counter for a little while from then on. However, it didn't last much more than 15 minutes before Ralph decided to exclaim that he was invincible once again and could do anything he wanted without any sort of consequences. "This is getting lame. I'm going to drive myself home," Ralph decided.

"No, man, hand me your keys," Shawn said. "I can't let you drive. You'll get pulled over for a DUI or something like that."

"Fine, here they are, take my keys."

"I didn't expect that so easily. Why don't you go sit outside and get some fresh air to chill for a little while? You can crash on my couch tonight and we'll come pick your car up in the morning. All I've had to drink tonight was a _Coke,_ so I'll be fine to drive back to my place for the evening."

"All right," Ralph seemed to agree.

Cyd and Shelby took cash out to pay their bill and followed Ralph out of the bar. Instead of just sitting outside like Shawn had suggested, he started making his towards the parking garage where Cyd and Shelby had parked Shelby's car. "What is he doing?" Shelby asked quietly. "His friend took his keys; he can't drive himself."

"Yeah. And at least that Shawn guy he was with was smart and took his keys from him even if he is a butt-face and is going to find a way to drive," Cyd said. "I guess we just need to see what he's doing and stop it."

Shelby nodded in agreement. After about a minute of walking around the parking garage, Ralph stopped at a car. He reached down under it and pulled a small key holder thing that had been stuck to the underside of his car out. From there, he pulled out a car key. He seemed proud of himself as he unlocked the car and started the ignition.

"The nerve of this guy!" Cyd exclaimed.

"I know!" Shelby agreed.

"All right. I guess our plan will be to jump back, leave a couple minutes before he does, take the key off his car so he can't drive himself and then his friend will drive him."

"Great idea, Cyd. Wait, when did you become the idea person?"

"I dunno," Cyd shrugged. "Sometime in college?" she offered.

Shelby laughed as the two brought their hands up for a high five. They were instantly back in the bar about 10 minutes before. Ralph was again claiming that he was invincible and his friend Shawn was trying to tell him that he couldn't drive and taking his keys from him, assuming he wouldn't be able to drive without them. "We better pay and head out," Cyd said. Shelby nodded her agreement and the girls once again left cash to pay for what they had had while they were there.

Since the car garage Ralph had parked his car in was the same one that Shelby and Cyd had parked Shelby's car, it was easy to find. His bright red _Camaro_ also stood out against the other cars in the parking garage. After looking around for a minute, they were able to find the place where he hid a spare key and slipped it into Cyd's bag while also sending another quick text to Daisy. They would get up early the following day and put it back before anyone else ever knew it was gone. It also seemed likely that Ralph would be hungover the following morning so it would be difficult for him to drive in the morning anyway.

They were curious what Ralph's reaction would be when he found that the key was missing, so they waited nearby. "The spare key is gone! The spare key is gone!" Ralph exclaimed. He began back towards the bar and Cyd and Shelby followed him back. "Shawn, Shawn," he said when he got back. "I went to my car and my spare key was gone!

"Your spare key?"

"Yeah, my spare key for my car."

"Are you telling me you were planning on driving yourself home? Do you realize how dangerous that is?"

"What?"

"Dude, you're drunk as heck. You aren't allowed to drive. We're leaving now and we'll pick your car up tomorrow. You'll sleep this off at my place." Shawn pulled some cash from his wallet to pay his tab and lead Ralph out to his car.

"We did it!" Cyd said as they saw Shawn escort Ralph to his car. They shared a smile and hug before going to Shelby's car and heading home.

CHCHCH

"How'd it go?" Daisy asked the second Cyd and Shelby got back to the apartment. "Did you stop Ralph from driving?" she asked even though the texts she had received gave her a good idea of what had happened.

"Mission accomplished," Cyd answered.

"That's great!" Daisy hugged her friends.

"We just need to get his key back before he and his friend who drove him home go to pick it up tomorrow," Shelby explained.

Cyd took the magnet that was a key holder from Ralph's car out of her bag and stuck it to their fridge. "Now we don't have to worry about it getting lost."

"Yeah," Shelby spoke. "But we should get to bed so we can make sure we get up early and return Ralph his key."

"I'm going to get to bed too," Daisy said. After making sure the door to the apartment was locked, the girls all went to get ready for bed.

CHCHCH

"Cyd, we've got to go get Ralph's key back," Shelby spoke, entering Cyd's room on Saturday morning. It took Shelby a couple minutes to wake Cyd up, but that was something Shelby was used to after nearly a decade of living with Cyd.

Daisy woke up before Cyd and Shelby left so the girls all ate breakfast together. They were going to hang out with the guys later that morning and into the afternoon before Shelby went to her parents' house for dinner that night so it wasn't a big deal to Daisy that she was already up.

Cyd and Shelby had no problem returning the key back to his car where he had kept it hidden. They were able to be on their way soon after that.

They met up with the guys after picking Daisy up and shared the good news that they had stopped Ralph from driving and returned his key back to his car before anyone else knew. It seemed unlikely that Shawn would really believe his friend who had been drunk the night before.

After several months, the three weddings had taken place. The group got homes on the same block for time traveling emergencies and so their kids could all be close to be friends and so Shelby's co-grandma plan would be able to play out for her and Cyd. Eventually, things did play out that way for the group and together, they perfected time travel for them so any two of the group could jump without the others.

Though they didn't have to face the untimely death of any other members of their group, they found a few other things that they were able to stop over the years that happened the first time around. In that time, April 26, 2039 didn't end up being a day filled with bad memories coming, it was instead a day of celebration for the group. The party they had confused their kids because it seemed to be for no reason. However, they were used to having cookouts and game nights on the weekends by that time. Life was great all because they'd been able to prevent one accident from happening.

 **A/N:** That concludes this short tale. I hope everyone enjoyed the happy ending and that the group was able to make a few more changes for the better from that point on. Thanks to everyone who had read and will read the story. Thanks also for the follows and favorites that have happened; I appreciate ever one. I'd love to know what you thought or any constructive criticism you have.

Thanks again for reading,

-CrazyHayniac


	5. Chapter 5: Epilogue

**Chapter 5: Epilogue**

 **A/N:** I've had this idea for a while and decided to write a bit of an epilogue to the first few chapters. It's a little bit longer than the other chapters, but I hope you enjoy it.

 _15 Years Later: Tuesday April 26, 2039_

Two full days with parent teacher conferences towards the end of the school year to make sure students were on track to go to the next grade offered the perfect opportunity for Cyd, Shelby, Daisy, Naldo, James, and Barry to get together with their families to celebrate the fact that it wasn't a sad day. The families having their own businesses and being able to take whatever time they wanted off made it even more simple to have a backyard barbeque – not that it was uncommon for the families considering they all shared a backyard.

"Why are having a barbeque today?" Lydia, Shelby and James' daughter, who was 13, asked. She looked to her parents as she was in the kitchen helping them get a few things taken care of for the night.

"We're celebrating something," James explained to his daughter.

"What are we celebrating?" she asked.

"We'll tell you when you're a little older," Shelby replied.

"How much older? You keep saying I have to wait until I'm older for everything."

"Just a couple years, we promise," James said.

"Okay," Lydia agreed, looking out the window to the backyard where she saw Mason, Cyd and Naldo's son and her best friend since birth. He smiled and waved to her. "Can I go outside since Mason's out there?"

"Yes. Just don't you get into trouble," Shelby warned. "Mason always seems to encourage that."

"Just like Cyd always did with you," James said.

"Shhh," Shelby turned and playfully shushed him. James only smiled and pulled Shelby in for a kiss.

"Eww. Gross. PDA Mom and Dad," Lydia exclaimed before going out the back slider door to meet Mason.

The couple laughed while they watched their daughter go meet Mason as their sons came running into the kitchen.

"I just saw Lydia go outside! Can we go outside too?" their older son, Hudson, who was 10, asked. His younger brother, Brayden, who was 4, followed him.

James looked to Shelby and they shared a conversation without words. "Sure," James answered his sons. "Go ahead and just stay out of trouble. Hud, you're in charge of making sure Brayden doesn't himself hurt more than the usual falling and scraping his hands and knees. And no pushing him or anything, please."

"Okay, Dad," Hudson agreed. "Brayden, c'mon, let's go outside. Maybe Tucker and Simon will be outside too.

"If all of them are outside, we better get out there too," Shelby said to James. He hummed in agreement. They finished taking care of the last couple things they needed to in the kitchen and headed outside where they found Daisy watching all the kids.

"We were worried about the trouble they might all get in," James spoke to Daisy.

"So was I," Daisy said. "Simon, Tucker, and Brayden all seem to have that effect on each other. I feel bad for their teacher next year since all three of them will be in the same grade together."

"For their sake, we can only hope they end up in different classes," Shelby said.

"Well, it's kind of like with Grace, Cora, and Hudson, except they're a bit more controlled than our boys are," James said.

"Yeah," Daisy agreed.

Shelby and James went to get their own chairs to sit with Daisy where they waited for Barry, Cyd, and Naldo to join them. It was only a few minutes before the missing half of the group brought chairs out to join them. Cyd sat down next to Shelby and turned to her.

"I'm glad you're here," she spoke quietly to her best friend so only Shelby could hear what she said.

"I know," Shelby replied.

"I can't imagine going through these last 15 years without you. I know Mason wasn't the age he is this time around then, but I can't imagine him growing up without Lydia as his best friend."

"Neither can I," Shelby agreed. "But I guess the parent teacher conferences explains why the kids weren't in school then. Even though they were a lot younger than they are now in that timeline."

"Yeah," Cyd agreed. "And I guess like with that timeline, we would have taken the days off for the kids and you." They fell into a silence as they watched their kids running around and playing together. After a couple minutes of silence, Cyd turned to Shelby, "You're my best friend and I can't imagine living life without you. You're the best friend I've ever had."

"I love you too," Shelby replied, knowing that Cyd still found it hard to relay her feelings to others. They leaned over to share a hug before continuing to watch the kids running around the yard. Though Lydia had begun to play games with her siblings and best friends less after her 13th birthday because she was a teenager and thought she needed to 'grow up', she too was running around the yard for a game of tag the kids were playing.

"You'll never catch me, Tuck!" Mason exclaimed to his younger brother, Tucker, who was 5.

"Don't need to," he replied, tapping Simon, Daisy and Barry's youngest who was the same age as him, on the shoulder.

Simon turned to his right where he found his older sister, Grace, who was 10, less than a foot away and tapped her wrist. The game continued until they were all out of breath and decided to sit down for a rest by their parents.

"Do you kids want me to go inside and get some drinks?" James asked when the kids all lay in the grass trying to catch their breaths.

The general consensus from the 8 kids was that they wanted drinks. James got up and headed inside. He returned a minute later with a small water bottle for each kid. "Thank you," they all replied.

"You're welcome." James returned to sit beside Shelby and put his hand over hers. He leaned over to give her a quick kiss on the cheek, causing her to smile. After a couple minutes of comfortable silence, the kids had all finished their waters and were ready to start playing games again. There were a few yard games in their garages that they all retrieved and started to set up. Teams were divided and a couple tournaments began.

Around the time all the games in the tournament were ending, it was time to get the food on the grill. All the adults took turns watching the food and getting what they wanted on the rather large grill they had collectively invested in for times like that.

A little while later, the three families were sitting down together at a couple picnic tables in their backyards to eat.

"So, what's this party thing for?" Hudson asked. "It's a Tuesday and we have school tomorrow and you have to work."

"Well," Shelby began. "Something really bad almost happened 15 years ago today. Since you kids don't have school today, we're taking advantage of that and celebrating that everything is okay now."

"All right," he agreed, accepting the answer. Lydia, on the other hand, was more skeptical about the answer she had gotten earlier and the one her parents had now given her younger brother. She thought she'd try asking again later when her brothers had gone to their room for bed since she could stay up a little later than they could.

After dinner, the kids ran around for a little while longer before each family returned to their own home to make sure the kids were bathed or showered for school the following day. Everyone had made sure that all homework that was due on Wednesday was already done during the weekend so there would be no need to worry about it on Tuesday night.

Lydia had taken to showing in the morning and hadn't run around to get quite as hot and bothered as her brothers had, so she would still be able to sleep comfortably. She was sitting in the living room when Shelby and James came back downstairs after getting Hudson and Brayden to bed.

"Hey, sweetheart," Shelby greeted.

"What are you watching?" James asked.

"Just reruns of Wizards of Waverly Place," Lydia replied.

James laughed. "That was a show from when we were kids. It's still on Disney?"

"Dad, you've watched it with me before at night."

"Yeah, it was last week that it was on," Shelby commented.

"Right," James replied. He went over to the couch and sat down beside Lydia while putting his arm around her shoulders. Shelby sat down on the opposite side of Lydia while they three of them watched Wizards for a few minutes before it got to a commercial.

"So why did we have the barbeque today? I know you told Hudson and Brayden that it's because something bad that was supposed to happen didn't happen 15 years ago today. But what was it?"

"We can't tell you yet," Shelby answered.

"Why not?"

"We'll tell you in a couple years, okay?" James asked.

"Okay," Lydia agreed.

 _2 Years Later_

For a couple years, Mason and Lydia had voted to each have a small party with a couple friends on their own birthdays. Usually it was a couple close friends over for pizza and a movie on a Friday night, but then a bigger party between their birthdays, which were just 2 months and a couple days apart.

Lydia's birthday fell first and Mason's the two months later. The Saturday after his 15th birthday and the small party the night before, the six younger kids were all over at Barry and Daisy's house and were having a sleep-over so Cyd, Naldo, Shelby, and James could talk to Lydia and Mason without their younger kids overhearing anything.

"Mom, Dad, why are the six of us here to have a—a talk did you say?" Lydia asked when she, Mason, Cyd, Naldo, Shelby, and James sat down in their living room.

"We already had _the talk_ at school. You don't need to try and give it to us as well," Mason said.

"No, this is something else, Mase," Cyd said.

"Do you remember that barbeque we had a couple years ago that you kept asking about, Lydia?" Shelby asked.

"Yeah," she replied.

"We can tell you about it now," Shelby explained. She took a deep breath to begin explaining. "When we were your age, 15 and freshmen in high school, we became time travelers through an accidental experiment in Barry's lab."

"At first, it was just Shelbs and I, but then Naldo and Barry got the ability in the midst of one of our time traveling adventures."

"Daisy's actually from the 1500s," Shelby continued. "It was while we were returning her to her time when we didn't know she was supposed to be here that Barry and Naldo got the power to time travel."

"Then, when we were seniors in high school, we jumped 20 years into the future to see what our lives were like," Shelby said.

"Shelbs," Cyd caught her attention. "Let me take it from here." Shelby nodded. "When we jumped to 20 years in the future, it was the day we had that barbeque, except we weren't having a barbeque. In that time line, it was the 15 year anniversary of a car accident that ended up killing Shelby. So, we worked out how to prevent it."

"Mom, is that true?" Lydia asked.

"Yes," Shelby answered. "In that timeline, Cyd and Naldo had saved a copy of my obituary and we actually still have it if you want proof."

"No," Mason said. "I—I can tell you're telling the truth and I think Lydia can too." She nodded in agreement.

"Dad, so what happened to you? Were you a widower?"

"We hadn't gotten married yet," Shelby said. "Cyd, Daisy, and I still had an apartment together."

"So, how'd you stop it from happening?" Mason asked.

"Wait, what happened with the accident. How'd it happen?" Lydia asked. "I've hardly ever seen you go more than 5 miles an hour over the speed limit."

"It was a drunk driver," James answered. "Head on crash because he was speeding and swerving to the other side of the double yellow.

"So, if that timeline had continued, Hudson, Brayden, and I wouldn't be here," Lydia said.

"How'd you stop it?" Mason asked again.

"We went to the bar he was supposed to be in and figured out how to stop him driving. A friend of his had taken his keys, but he hid a spare on his car. When we found that out, we jumped back and stole the spare so he couldn't drive," Cyd explained.

"Then we returned it the following day before he ever knew it was gone," Shelby finished.

"Well, other than when he was drunk, but the friend he was with probably thought he was delusional while drunk."

"Whatever happened to him then?" Lydia asked.

"A couple years later there was a news article about him running off the road and crashing into a tree because he was driving drunk. He died in the hospital a couple days later," James explained. "And it probably sounds bad that we didn't go back and stop that from happening, but—"

"Dad, I understand. You don't need to say anything more. He wasn't going to learn his lesson because he wouldn't know what was changed and he could have hurt someone else next time if you changed it. Some people will never change."

"Then that's all we had to tell you," Naldo said, standing and thus prompting everyone else to do the same.

"That may be all you had to tell us, but we're not done here," Lydia began. She turned to Shelby and embraced her in a hug. "I love you, Mom." Shelby wrapped her arms around Lydia and held onto her while resting her chin on top of Lydia's head. The two hugged for a couple minutes before they broke apart.

"Uh, Shelby. I don't think you two noticed it, but there was a little glow of tachyons around you when you hugged," Naldo spoke.

"What?" Lydia asked, looking to Naldo with a confused expression on her face. "What are tachyons and why does that word sound familiar? Mason?"

"I don't know what tachyons are, but there was a yellow glow like Dad said," Mason replied.

"Barry has always been better at explaining these things that I am," James said. "But tachyons have something to do with time travel and whenever any of us time travel, there's either some tachyons left behind or they dissipate really quickly."

There were a few seconds of silence that followed before Lydia spoke. "Wait, does—does that mean that I could time travel too?"

"We could see," Shelby spoke. "When do you want to go?"

"Your high school graduation."

"That's probably not the best place to go," James spoke.

"Everyone still sees you even if you go outside your life time, so you'd either have to hide in the crowd or appear with my class during graduation," Shelby explained.

"What about your graduation party. Like before or after it?" Lydia asked.

"You could try going to right before it while Cyd and I were still getting ready," Shelby suggested. "That is, if it would work."

"Okay." Lydia and Shelby embraced each other in a hug once again. Like every time Cyd and Shelby time traveled, the two were enveloped in a small yellow glow before they disappeared.

"Mom! Your room looks just like I always thought it would from the pictures," Lydia spoke when she found herself in Cyd and Shelby's room. "Aunt Cyd's side is really her."

"Yes, it is," Shelby laughed, looking around the room and reminiscing on the time she and Cyd had spent sharing the room.

Lydia laughed. "You can tell exactly whose side is whose. There's like a line down the middle," she said, stepping to the side on motioning to the separation between clean and the dirty as well the separation of the color scheme in the room. "I'm glad I was able to see this in person," Lydia said. She and Shelby hugged once again and returned to the moment they had left.

"Since that works, doesn't that mean that Mase and I should be able to time travel together?"

"And what about Lydia and I? Could we time travel together just the two of us?" Mason asked.

"I guess that's something you could try," Cyd said. "Whenever any of us have time traveled before though, Shelby and I always have to be going," she explained.

"I'm up for it," Lydia said to Mason.

"Mom, Dad?" Mason turned to Cyd and Naldo as well as Shelby and James.

The four adults shared a look and realized there wasn't anything they could do to stop Lydia and Mason from seeing if they could time travel together. It would be better if they knew and could all be aware of it rather than them trying to do so behind their backs without any idea of what was going on. "Sure," Cyd answered after a minute.

Being best friends their whole life, it wasn't weird for Mason and Lydia to hug. They had walked into their first day of kindergarten holding hands for the moral support their best friend since birth had given them. They shared a few words to figure out where they wanted to try and jump to—quietly so their parents wouldn't know—and embraced each other in a hug. A small yellow glow enveloped them as it always had their parents.

"Their high school graduation," Mason laughed.

"Well, everyone except my dad's because Mom and Dad didn't know each other until college," Lydia said.

"Yeah," Mason agreed. The two had time jumped into the auditorium where graduation was taking place and took a couple seats in the back and shadows so they would just look like underclassmen at their upperclassmen friends' graduation. In all the chaos of getting everyone seated, no one had noticed the two appear there.

They sat and watched as the graduates filled in to the sound of 'Pomp and Circumstance' a little while later. The two quietly pointed out their parents as well as Barry and Daisy when they saw them walk in.

A little while into the graduation ceremony, the principal invited the valedictorian, Barry Eisenberg, to the stage. "It's Uncle Barry," Mason commented.

"Are you surprised?"

"Not really."

 _"_ _I'm not really a speech making person,"_ Barry began his speech. _"Though if one of my inventions ever wins me an award or something, I'll be sure to give one. But that's not what we're here to talk about tonight. I've had a lot of help from my friends to write this speech because I'm not one to get emotional about this as I'm sure many of my fellow classmates know. So, I have to thank my best friends Cyd, Shelby, Naldo, and my girlfriend, Daisy, for helping me with this before I go any farther."_ Mason and Lydia lightly nudged each other as Barry began the rest of his speech talking about the challenges they faced in high school and how they were going to be starting a new chapter in their lives while they closed the one of high school. _"It is now my pleasure to welcome my friend Naldo Montoya up here as our class elected speaker."_ Applause broke out for Barry's speech and to welcome Naldo up on stage.

 _"_ _Hi everyone,"_ Naldo began when he made it to stage and had set his speech down on the podium. _"I know some of you, unlike me, have been in the West Portland school system and it might seem like the end to leave the friends you've known your whole life, but it's not the end. It's a beginning. Since I moved and transferred schools, I've made some of the best friends I could ever have. This goodbye or see you later, opens the door for many more hellos with the people we will meet in college and our future work places."_ Naldo's speech continued on a more heartfelt side than Barry's had, especially since he was the one of the two friends who was the most in touch with his feelings and the feelings of others. _"It has been an honor to get to know you all over the past 9 years. Congratulations class of 2019."_ Naldo finished before stepping down from the stage.

Once Naldo took his seat again, the principal and vice principal stepped up to the stage to begin calling off the names of the graduates. Lydia and Mason made sure they clapped extra loud for the five who would be the most important adults in their lives. At the end of the graduation, when chaos once again ensued while everyone tried to leave, Lydia and Mason hugged to return to their present.

"So, where'd you go?" Cyd asked.

"Your high school graduation," Mason replied. "It was fun to see you when you were kids."

"Well, except for you, Dad. Because you didn't meet Mom until college," Lydia added. "Maybe we should jump to Dad's high school graduation next."

"That would be fun. We could watch all of you graduate. How many kids can say they saw their parents graduate high school," Mason spoke. "Wait, do our grandparents know about the time travel stuff?"

"We never told them," Shelby answered. "We never really had any reason to. And don't tell your younger siblings. We were 15 when we got the power and started everything with time travel, so we figured when you were all 15, you could know."

"We just thought we'd tell you together," Cyd began. "Which is why you didn't find out a few months ago, Lydia. And why we just waited until after Mason's birthday to tell you."

"I think I prefer it this way anyway. I'd hate to have to keep time travel a secret from him."

"And we'll keep it our secret until you tell our younger siblings about it," Lydia said.

"And cousins," Mason added, referring to Grace and Simon who were his cousins through Daisy's adoption as Naldo's sister.

The following day, Barry was informed that Lydia and Mason could time travel just the two of them the same way Cyd and Shelby had always been able to do. He had many notes stored away about time travel and he added that to them. While he hadn't expected the kids to inherit the time traveling abilities of their parents, it was interesting to know that it was passed down the way it was. In a couple years, when the next set of kids who were the same age found out, he would make more notes of it.

 _3 Years Later_

After Hudson, Grace, and Cora had all had their 15th birthday, Mason and Lydia, who were dating and had been for about two years, offered to watch the youngest three while their parents, Barry, and Daisy talked to the former three about time travel. The trio had fun learning of their time travel abilities. They had the same results as Mason and Lydia did where any two of them could time travel with the others.

They had first jumped with all three of them, back to their first day of high school. Then, when that had worked, Barry had asked them to try over again to see if just two of them could jump without the third. When it had worked on all counts, Barry had made those notes in his notebook and added on to the ones about Mason and Lydia. All the kids had the whole abilities like Cyd and Shelby had to begin with and similar to what Barry, Naldo, Daisy and eventually James had been able to do.

 _5 ½ years later_

Like their older siblings who were the same age and in the same grade had been, Simon, Tucker, and Brayden were best friends. Even when they had ended up in different classes throughout school because they tended to get into more trouble when they put their minds together, they were always together whenever else they could be. Even though Brayden was several months younger than Tucker and Simon were, Barry, Daisy, Naldo, Cyd, Shelby, and James decided they'd wait until after Brayden's 15th birthday to tell the three of them together about time travel and the likely powers they had because of it.

In the same way Lydia hadn't minded waiting a little while longer to find out about time travel so Mason could find out with her. Tucker and Simon hadn't minded waiting a little longer so they didn't have to keep the secret from Brayden. They were excited to get to be able to go on time travel adventures and see things, like their siblings had, that had happened before they were born.

Over the 9 years since Lydia and Mason had been told about time travel and the discovery their parents had made regarding it, they had helped keep track of different info the same way Barry had. Outside their work, their parents had done more research which the kids had all helped with once they found out.

Simon, Tucker, and Brayden were then welcomed into the whole knowledge of the secret together. Everyone within the families knowing the secret made it easier on everyone who had known the longest because they were no longer keeping the secret from anyone.

CHCHCH

The research continued even when all the kids were moved out because there was still more research that could be done. Lydia and Mason had gotten married soon after they finished college and had been married when their youngest siblings found out about time travel. When they had kids, there were questions about whether or not their kids would be time travelers or not. But, they and their parents decided that it would be a bridge for them to cross when they got there.

When Lydia and Mason's daughter was born, Shelby was beyond excited that she and Cyd were co-grandmas like she had always dreamed they could be. "You are my favorite weirdo," Cyd spoke to Shelby when they visited the hospital together to meet their granddaughter while Naldo and James were busy. The two shared a hug in the hospital hallway before going by Lydia. Mason was out of the room so the three sat for a little while, and it wasn't much later that Cyd and Shelby met Emma. She had Cyd's dark hair that Mason had inherited and Shelby's bright blue eyes that Lydia had as well.

Life for the growing three families was getting more interesting even though they thought they had everything about time travel figured out. There was never a dull day for them in their lives.

 **A/N:** One of the obvious changes in this timeline from the one that Cyd and Shelby originally visited is the different ages of the kids. Their ages are changed because those who were left behind weren't all going through the pain of losing one of their best friends so didn't wait as long as they did the first time around to have kids.

In the first part with the barabeque, these are the ages of the kids and who their parents were: Shelby and James: Lydia-13, Hudson-10, Brayden-4; Naldo and Cyd: Mason-13, Cora-10, Tucker-5; Barry and Daisy: Grace- 10, Simon- 5.

From there and the different time skips the ages are these if anyone wants to keep track of them: _2 Years Later:_ Lydia and Madon-15; Hudson, Cora, Grace-12; Simon and Tucker-7; Brayden-6. _3 Years Later:_ Lydia and Mason- 18; Hudson, Cora, and Grace-15; Simon and Tucker-10; Brayden-9. _5 ½ Years Later:_ Lydia and Mason-23 ½; Hudson, Cora, and Grace-20 ½; Simon and Tucker-15 ½; Brayden-15.

I hope everyone enjoyed the epilogue and the insight to the future of their lives after preventing the accident. I'd love to know what you thought or how I could improve in my writing. Thanks for reading,

-CrazyHayniac


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